


In the Shadows

by White_Wolf_With_Blue_Eyes



Series: Be Human [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Developing Relationship, F/F, Fantastic Racism, First Meetings, Fluff, Monsters, Pre-Relationship, Racism (kind of), although it is still a kind of racism, but they are more or less implicit, even so be careful, ignore me it is been almost a year since I published anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 11:17:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20814257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/White_Wolf_With_Blue_Eyes/pseuds/White_Wolf_With_Blue_Eyes
Summary: Sometimes friendships are formed in the most unexpected ways.Even those you call monsters have their own lives to worry about.





	In the Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> This shot is made to be read on its own or as part of the series to which it belongs. Although it's not mandatory to read the 'chapter' above to understand this, it's advisable to do so to relate more to the universe.
> 
> English is not my mother tongue, and it's four in the morning, so any mistake is mine.
> 
> For now, enjoy.
> 
> (More information about my other fics in the final notes).

** _10:34am_ **

Usually, a place like the Arcadia Bay junkyard would be associated with anything but silence and tranquility. Chloe was one of the few people, if not the only one, who associated those words with the place in question.

It was to be expected that the place Chloe went to flee the world would end up becoming a kind of sanctuary for her, a place where she could be herself without worrying about curious looks.

Now imagine her surprise to see a person standing on that iconic and old school bus that the bluenette considered as the best scrap from the scrap yard.

The person (a girl, Chloe concluded when she approached a little closer to her) was with her back to the punk, one hand on her hip and another on her forehead as if she were doing a military salute, looking around.

To this day, Chloe doesn't know what prompted her to get her attention.

"Hey, you!"

The girl looked both ways before looking over her shoulder and crossing eyes with Chloe.

“What are you doing up there? It's more, what the hell are you doing here?”

The bluenette didn’t expect the girl to smile and jump off the bus. _That must have hurt_, thought Chloe, a thought she hesitated when she saw that the girl did not flinch when she landed safely in the land of the scrap yard. She then approached Chloe and, even with that smile on her face, extended her right hand. The punk could not ignore the peculiar bracelet that the girl wore on the wrist of that hand.

“Hello, it's nice to meet you. I'm Max,” said the girl, Max, casually.

Chloe raised an eyebrow and, with some reluctance, took the offered hand. "Uh, I'm Chloe, I guess it's a pleasure-"

Before she could finish the sentence, Max stopped smiling and brought her hands together to his face, as if he were inspecting them more closely. Suddenly, Chloe was pulled down and ended up with her dumbfounded face very close to the girl's.

Max's smile came back, she released her hands and stepped back, looking amusedly at the bluenette she was in a state similar to shock.

"I didn't expect to meet a wyvern in these parts," said Max.

Chloe's eyes opened wide and she straight stood, shocked by what she had heard.

“Uh, what? A-A wyvern?” The punk gave a nervous laugh. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, you don't need to act." Max made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Also, your reaction to my comment was enough to confirm my suspicions."

Chloe didn't know what to do; she had never found herself in a situation like this.

"So, how do you know?" Her words came out of her mouth without thinking.

Max's smile spread. "For your skin and your eyes."

"My skin and my... eyes?"

Chloe frowned and watched her hands. She thought she would find anything except normal hands; normal skin and normal appearance. And her eyes? What about her eyes? The bluenette looked up at the girl, who was still looking at her with fun and that smile on her face.

"I don’t understand. I look normal, there is nothing that tells you that I am… a wyvern.”

“It's because you are not looking correctly. Look, put your fingers gently on your skin and, if you look closely, you will notice that it is slightly flaky. It goes unnoticed easily, especially if the wyvern is not prone to touch people.”

As she spoke, Max moved a little closer to Chloe.

“And your eyes… Well, usually a yellowish touch is usually seen in the sclera, something not so noticeable but at the same time perceptible to those who deign to look. The fact is that the yellow of your eyes is much dimmer than usually is.” Max hummed thoughtfully and cupped her chin as she looked Chloe in the eye. "That makes me think that, quite possibly, you’re a hybrid."

It was the turn of the bluenette to step back, equally surprised and scared by the deductions of that girl.

“Hey, come on, don't be afraid. The last thing I want to do is give reasons to a wyvern to hate me.” Interestingly, Max's voice sounded almost sad.

“And what do you want me to do? To accept what you're telling me like that without more?” asked the bluenette indignantly.

The girl's smile became sad. “You would be surprised to know that you are the first creature that doesn’t get angry or shout curses at me when I tell them what they are.”

Chloe's frown deepened and the question that had been swimming in her mind since she met this girl asked to be said out loud.

"What are you anyway?"

Max's smile faltered a little, but she held firm when she shrugged.

"I'm not human, I assure you that."

That answered something, but not everything.

Chloe's mind began to wander, and more questions began to swirl. But even before the bluenette could ask anything else, the girl's cell phone began to vibrate. Max looked for her cell phone in one of the pockets of her jeans and quickly took a look.

"Well, it seems I have to go," she said as she put away her cell phone and turned her gaze to Chloe, smiling at her. “It was nice to meet you, seriously. I didn't expect to see someone like you here in Arcadia Bay.”

The punk raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you from around here?"

"Nah, I'm from Seattle." Max started walking toward the exit of the junkyard while she spoke, with Chloe's eyes on her. "You can imagine how different things are there."

The bluenette watched the girl for a few seconds, without moving from the site. Her next words even surprised her:

"Wait!" The girl turned to Chloe, curious. “Why would someone like you come to this lost town of God? There is nothing here for people like us…”

That iconic smile returned to Max's lips. "It's simple, I came to finish my studies at Blackwell Academy."

Then the girl turned and continued on her way.

If it wasn't for Chloe's keen senses, she would probably never have heard the almost inaudible whisper that came from Max just before she left the place:

"And to keep a promise."

* * *

** _3:12pm_ **

_I never thought about going back to this shit hole, and now look at me, looking for a girl I don't know in a place I don't want to be._

It may not have been the best of ideas, but it's not that Chloe had many options; waiting who knows how long in the junkyard until that girl appeared wasn’t the most ideal, who knows if she would return to that place.

So, with the little knowledge she had about Max, the punk decided to go find her on her own. _I need answers_, it was the justification Chloe gave her brain, although she wasn't sure if that was the whole truth.

It was not a surprise for her not to find much security around Blackwell, after all this was not the first time she had crossed the grounds of the academy when she wasn’t supposed to.

Chloe began her search in the parking lot, but only found a group of smokers in a corner and no mysterious girl. She then continued with the main campus, but there were no signs of any brunette with a peculiar bracelet on her right wrist.

The only open place that remained to be reviewed were the Prescott Dormitories, and if Max was not there, Chloe would have to manage to enter Blackwell without being seen. _That or sit and wait like an idiot_, she had thought with a bit of bitterness.

Just as she was turning the corner to the dormitories, Chloe stopped when she noticed a security guard (fortunately with her back to her). Instinctively, the bluenette covered herself with the wall that had just passed and stuck her head out to make sure she had not been seen. It was then that Chloe noticed two other students near that guard, two girls, of which a certain brunette stood out, who seemed to be talking to the uniformed man. _Or scolding him, rather_, the punk thought once she saw the scene unfold.

“Harassing a student? What a security guard you are,” said Max with a frown of anger.

"You don't know what you're talking about, miss," the guard reprimanded, pointing an accusing finger at the brunette, "and any matter between Miss Marsh and I doesn't concern you."

Max stood between the guard and the other girl, almost as if trying to protect her.

"Kate is my friend, whatever problem you are causing concerns me."

It seemed that the guard was about to claim once more, but Chloe noticed how his face twisted into a disdainful grimace and pointed a finger at Max again.

"This is not over," he said before moving on to the two girls.

Chloe heard Max mutter "Idiot" just before the other girl pounced on the brunette in a crushing hug.

"Thank you, Max," she said as she leaned back a little. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been here."

The brunette's face softened and she smiled. “It’s fine, Kate, I'm glad nothing happened to you. But what did he want?”

"I don’t know. He just arrived and started asking me things and then he started attacking me until you arrived.” Kate seemed a little nervous but also relieved.

"Well, at least he didn't get anything physical." Max hugged Kate again. "Try to stay away from him, and if it bothers you again, let me know" Both girls separated and the brunette looked at Kate with steely but soft eyes. "Understood?"

Kate nodded in response. After that, they exchanged a few words before Kate excused herself and returned to the dormitories. Max then looked over her shoulder and cleared her throat, a smile forming on her lips.

"You can get out of there, Chloe."

A bush of blue hair peeked through the wall, and Max then saw Chloe's confused face.

"How did you know I was here?" It was the first thing the bluenette came up to say.

Max chuckled. "It's difficult to overlook a head peeking out of a wall, and more so if you have blue hair."

Chloe walked away from the wall and faced Max, who was just looking at her with that characteristic smile of her and her hands behind her back, like an innocent girl.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" asked the brunette. "It's not that your presence bothers me, much less."

The bluenette then remembered her main objective and took some courage to say what was on her mind since her chance encounter in a junkyard.

"I want to know how you knew what I am and I want to know what you are."

Max's smile disappeared and she looked around before approaching Chloe a little and whispering:

"Can we talk about this in a more private place?"

* * *

** _3:30pm_ **

Chloe doesn't know how she ended up in Max's room, but she thinks it has to do with the fact that it was a better option than walking back to the junkyard.

After a quick glance at the room, Chloe's attention was drawn to the wall of polaroids on the wall next to the bed. There were probably over a hundred photographs there, but before she could even start counting them, the sound of a closing door drew her attention to Max, who quickly took off her bag and put it next to the sofa, where she sat.

"So, I don't know if you realized that the answers to your questions have already been answered this morning," she said as she put her arms on the back of the sofa.

"Yes, but not completely," Chloe intervened, turning completely to Max. "Especially your last answer, it was very cryptic."

"What? It was a good response. I can be anything but human, that's all you need to know.”

The bluenette frowned, it was getting harder and harder to try to understand this girl.

"Why don't you just tell me?" Chloe demanded.

Max tilted her head and looked away, humming under her breath.

"Maybe because I don't want you to know?" Her voice had become sad, in Chloe's opinion.

Both girls were silent for what seemed like hours, with Chloe trying to make sense of everything and Max avoiding the look of the bluenette.

Finally, it was Chloe who spoke.

"Is it really so worrying to you that I know what you are?" She asked delicately, afraid to say something inappropriate.

Max laughed silently, still with her eyes fixed somewhere except Chloe.

"In my experience, when people find out, or they run away from me or treat me like crap." She closed her eyes, a strange smile adorned her face. "Forgive me if I want to keep the illusion for as long as possible."

_As cryptic as ever_, it was what Chloe thought upon hearing that answer. Then, without even thinking twice, the bluenette went to the sofa and sat confidently next to Max.

"To be honest, you are the first creature I meet in Arcadia Bay and you haven't given me any reason to hate you," Chloe said, her voice taking a serious tone. "I may not know what you are, but you have shown me nothing but kindness from the beginning, and that is something."

The bluenette noticed that the brunette's eyes were opening, but Max still didn't look at her, so Chloe decided to dare a little with her next sentence.

"Also, if someone intimidates a guard like you did, I would run away, or at least think about it twice before bothering you again."

That, surprisingly, won a small laugh from Max. Chloe considered it a victory, even if it was tiny.

"That idiot was messing with Kate, I couldn't help it."

"See? You even care about others. I don't know about you, but those are more than enough reasons to want to be your friend.”

Silence surrounded them again, and was soon broken by Max's sigh. She turned her head towards Chloe, her face showing more vulnerability than the bluenette thought possible.

"Do you really want to try to be my friend?"

Chloe couldn't help but frown a little, thinking her answer very well. They probably spent several minutes like that, and the fact that Max didn't take her eyes off Chloe waiting for an answer indicated that this was important to her.

"Yes, I want to be your friend" Needless to say, those words surprised the girls in more ways than one.

Max looked Chloe in the eye for a few more seconds, until she turned her head the other way and chuckled.

"Good. You seem to tell the truth, so I'll give you a chance."

The bluenette raised an eyebrow, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean" The brunette got up from the sofa and walked to bed "that we can be friends for now, but until you find out what I am, I can’t be sure of anything" Max crouched next to the bed and pull the hand under it, looking for something.

"You really care what I think, don't you?" Chloe said with a sigh.

"Yep."

Max pulled her hand from under the bed and Chloe noticed that she had something in it, a book. In the most sincere opinion of Chloe, that book looked like an encyclopedia, but of the giants. She didn’t understand how Max was able to withstand such a weight in one hand.

"Do you know this book?" Asked the brunette, attracting Chloe's attention.

The bluenette took a closer look at the book when Max handed it to her. The cover was made of brown leather, and you could read the words 'Kreaturen-Handbuch' stamped in black.

"I must say no." Chloe ran her fingers gently down the cover. "What does this mean?"

"It means 'creatures manual', and as the name implies, it has all the information you need to know about all creatures," Max explained as she sat next to Chloe. "Or at least all known creatures to date."

Hearing that, Chloe soon opened the book and took a quick look at its pages. There were names of creatures that not even she knew, and the descriptions were, for the most part, extensive enough to satisfy anyone's curiosity. Each description and name were accompanied by a handmade drawing of the creature, and as she turned the pages, one name called her attention to the rest.

** _Wyvern_ **

** _Probably one of the rarest creatures and the least studied. Not much is known about them, except that they usually prefer a somewhat lonely life since, usually, their only social connections are their family and a very small group of friends, sometimes one or two, sometimes none. Despite this, they are usually calm, friendly and even helpful, contrasting with their appearance similar to that of a dragon or a lizard._ **

** _Their scales always come in two colors, and although the combinations are varied, those of green/yellow, red/blue and gray/purple are usually the most frequent. Apart from their unique colors, the wyvern’s scales are also quite resistant, they could even be compared with graphene, a material 10 times stronger than the strongest current steel. Of course, they are not indestructible; some creatures such as taurus beings, ghouls and some species of shifters are strong enough to pierce or break the scales of a wyvern._ **

** _Similar to the eyes of a snake or a cat, the wyvern's eyes have vertical pupils, and the color of the sclera varies between yellow and beige, with yellow being the most common._ **

** _Like some versions of the myth of the dragon, the wyvern are able to 'spit' different types of elements, though in reality they do not spit, but use their breath, so blow is enough to throw fire, frost and an icy breath capable of freezing. Fire is the most common element that a wyvern can blow, but there have been some cases in which a wyvern has been able to blow frost, leaving the icy breath as one of the most difficult breaths to find._ **

** _The life expectancy of the wyvern is between 800 and 1000 years, depending on the food it has and the people around it._ **

** _Unlike most creatures, who need some gem to hide their true appearances, wyvern are able to hide their scales and hide the color of their eyes. It’s not known how they can do it, nor are they able to explain it. But even if they look human, the scales can still be felt if their texture is well sought, and because yellow is usually the predominant color of a wyvern's eyes, residues of that color are usually left, so closely examine their eyes is enough to notice, even if it is not noticed at a moderate distance._ **

** _Their diet usually consists of all kinds of meats, from animals to, very rarely, human. Because of this, wyvern are prone to hide from other creatures for fear of being despised, and therefore it is normal that they usually eat only animal meat. Although, like other man-eating creatures, at some point the cravings become so high that even they can’t control themselves. It goes without saying that there are specimens (fortunately scarce) that are carried away by these anxieties and the only type of meat they eat is human, earning the hatred and contempt of other creatures._ **

** _That is all the information that has been collected over the centuries, but a wyvern ritual was discovered relatively recently that reveals the true nature of these beings. Apparently, if a wyvern thinks he has engaged his partner for life (either human or another creature), he will give one of his scales to that being. The scales alone can be confused with gems, and that makes wearing them in a necklace, bracelet or ring comfortable and go unnoticed by humans. It should be noted that removing a scale is a painless process, and the lost scale will be replaced by a new one in a few days._ **

"I guess you found the answer to one of your questions."

Chloe was so immersed in the reading that she hadn't realized she had stood up and ended up in the middle of the room. Max had taken advantage of and removed her hoodie, and had changed her position from the sofa to the bed, stretching there quietly and with one arm behind her head.

"I think so..." Chloe muttered before returning her gaze to the book. "So, if all the known creatures are in this book, you should be there too, right?"

Max chuckled. "Well, not me, but my kind."

"You know what I mean" The bluenette rolled her eyes as the brunette's laugh echoed in the room. "Even so, there's a lot of information here," she said as she turned the pages quickly. "How am I supposed to know what species you are when there are literally hundreds of possibilities?"

Chloe had a point. Max hummed thoughtfully at such an inconvenience, but soon she came up with an idea that could be beneficial for her and Chloe.

"Let me propose something," Max said as she sat down. The bluenette turned her gaze to her. “I have two clues to give you. I’ll give you the first one now, and with that one clue you will try to find out what I am. If you give up and you can't find out anything, I'll give you the last clue, but only in that situation.”

"And what makes you think that I will not arrive tomorrow asking for the last clue?"

“Because the Kreaturen-Handbuch is so extensive that you need at least a week to read it in its entirety. No matter how fast you read, the important thing is to understand what it says and use that knowledge in reality,” Max explained as she moved her legs to the side of the bed. "Besides, I know that book to the right and the other way around, so every time you ask me if I am this or that, I will know where you are going or if you skipped any creature."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, impressed. "You thought about this very well, even though you only needed seconds to do it."

"It's an agreement that suits both of us," Max said with a shrug. "Anyway, the first clue..." The brunette extended her right hand to Chloe. "My species is the only one that uses this stone to appear to be human."

The bluenette then noticed the bracelet on Max's wrist. Chloe examined it carefully: it was made of what appeared to be black leather, adorned with silver studs, but what was most striking was the black gem that was embedded in the middle. It was a little bigger than the tacks that adorned its surroundings, and although it didn’t shine as much as one would expect, the shape of the rhombus it had was enough to get attention and still remained a very striking gem.

"And what gem is that?"

"Ah-ah, you will have to find out on your own," Max said as she pulled her hand away from Chloe and leaned back with her hands on the bed. "It's a black gem, the shape doesn't matter, and that already reduces the chances more than you'd think."

The bluenette took one last look at the book before closing it and sighing audibly.

"If you say so. Even so, it's still a lot of work.”

"Without hard work, there is no reward" Max laughed softly. “At least you will have something to do during the following week. You’re welcome."

Chloe couldn't help letting out her own giggle. “Speaking of which, can I take it home? I think it would be better than to match schedules and come to your room when you're here.”

"Hmm. I guess you're right,” said Max before standing up and extending her hand to Chloe and smiling at her. “But at least let me have your number, so I can harass you and we can also communicate more easily. One can only endure so many chance encounters,” she joked.

A smile crossed Chloe's face and both girls exchanged numbers and some more jokes before the bluenette had to leave.

If Chloe had known what that simple action would do for her future.

* * *

** _11:46pm_ **

The room was dark except for the moonlight that entered through the window and partially illuminated a desk. There was a big book open on it, and a blue-haired girl stood on the pages.

Sitting down to read the Kreaturen-Handbuch late at night had become Chloe's routine for the past two weeks. Although Max had warned her that it would take at least a week to read it completely, the constant meetings between the two girls had made the time the bluenette devoted to the book was reduced, although it wasn't that she was complaining.

Actually it was fun to go out with Max, and although sometimes the fun was interrupted by Chloe's occasional 'I think I know what you are' (which she never guessed right), the brunette always managed to put that aside and continue smiling.

Chloe had learned in a few days that that smile actually hid fear and fragility behind, that it was more a defense mechanism, but she never delved into those issues and Max never said anything.

Although the bluenette still didn't know the kind of creature Max was, it was actually relaxing and even liberating that Chloe could be her true self in front of someone other than her mother. Her true appearance could scare anyone away, but Max was amazed to see her reddish blue scales and yellow eyes, and Chloe had to admit that she spent more time in that way when she was with Max, in addition to the fact that the bluenette seemed adorable that the brunette looked almost like a little girl when she saw her in her true form.

"I haven't had the chance to spend quality time with a creature," Max had said when Chloe asked about her behavior. "They usually find out what I am before I can approach them." After that, she just smiled and acted as if Chloe had never asked her anything.

Despite that time, the other meetings between the two girls always included laughter and each ended up knowing more about the other with each encounter. Once they ended up watching a movie in Max's room, but most of the time they spent it in Chloe's room or in the junkyard. But Chloe couldn't deny the fact that with each passing meeting, she was increasingly excited to see Max, and the bluenette suspected that the brunette felt the same way even if she tried to hide it.

A knock on the door interrupted the girl's thoughts.

"Chloe, can I come in?" Asked a voice through the door.

"Yes, mom, come in," Chloe said out loud before returning to her reading.

The door opened and a woman entered the room. She was probably in her 40s and her blond hair was in a bun. She wore what appeared to be her work clothes, apparently she had barely arrived home.

"I thought you would be sleeping at this time, honey," said the woman, Joyce was her name.

Chloe gave her mother a shy look. "Sorry, mom, I just have a few pages left to finish this book, and I really want to finish it."

Joyce then saw the book that her daughter was reading, and she raised an eyebrow when she noticed how big it was. She had never seen a book like that before.

"May I know what you are reading?" She asked, more curious than intrusive.

Chloe's gaze went from the book to her mother and back to the book, wondering if to tell her or not. In the end she thought she wouldn't really do any harm her mother knew.

“I-It's a book that a friend lent me. She's like me, uh, a creature… Although I still don't know what kind of creature,” she muttered the last part without wanting her mother to listen.

"You mean a wyvern?"

"No, she’s not a wyvern, and although I still don’t know what she is, she is a good person."

Joyce hummed thoughtfully. "Well, you better find out soon, someday you'll have to introduce her to me," she said with a smile.

"Oh, don't worry, mom, I'm very close to finding out." Chloe's face suddenly turned serious.

Joyce couldn't help letting out a laugh when she saw her daughter's determination, who just looked at her confused.

“Don't spend all night reading, okay, honey? And your dinner is still in the microwave, you better eat something before bed."

"Yeah. Thanks, mom."

Joyce smiled at her before turning around and back where she came from, but a call from Chloe stopped her and made her look at her daughter questioningly.

"There's something I wanted to ask you weeks ago, but I haven't had the chance." Chloe licked her lips, her mouth suddenly dry. "My... My father gave you some gem before, y-you know, die?"

Her mother had to admit that this question surprised her, but fortunately she had an answer, or at least what she thought was the answer.

"Actually, yes, William gave me this a few years before we got married." Joyce extended the fingers of her left hand to Chloe, who noticed that on her mother's ring finger there was a gold ring with a yellowish green teardrop-shaped gem embedded in it. "Since then I have not taken it off, except on a few occasions."

Chloe watched the ring for longer than she would have liked, and quickly turned her eyes away from the ring and looked at her mother with tears in her eyes.

"H-He told you what that meant?"

Joyce showed a sad smile before bending down a little and hugging her daughter, who returned the hug with fervor.

"Of course he told me, honey, why do you think I didn't take it off?" Joyce said tenderly before she felt her daughter's tears spill over her shoulder.

Chloe didn't know how long they stayed like that, but before she knew it, her mother wished her good night and a meat sandwich was on her desk next to the book.

The bluenette wiped her eyes once more before eating her dinner and finished reading the last pages she had left.

A meat sandwich and nine pages later, Chloe still didn't know for sure what kind of creature Max could be. If she had done the calculations well, there were about 18 species of creatures that used some black gem to simulate being human, and Chloe had only thought that Max could be at least 7 of those creatures, although none of her hypotheses were correct. Maybe it was one of the remaining eleven? But she was actually a little tired, and the descriptions of the book were really vague in saying how to find out what kind of creature someone is just because of their human appearance.

But then an idea came to her head. Chloe took his cell phone and quickly wrote a message to Max.

**Chloe: hey, Mad Max, are you awake?**

The response took only a few minutes to arrive.

**Max: Yes**

**Max: What's up?**

**Chloe: i think in the end i will need that last clue**

**Chloe: i am a dedicated reader, but even i get tired of more than 800 pages talking about creatures**

This time, the response was not immediate. Moreover, it took even longer than the first.

**Max: Ok**

**Max: I didn't want to have to get to this, but I guess one day it had to happen**

**Max: My species is mentioned on the wyvern page**

**Max: It's all you need to know, Chlo**

It might seem silly, but for Max to use Chloe's nickname it seemed almost painful.

Leaving her momentary daze on one side, Chloe quickly searched for the book and turned the pages until she found a familiar entrance. She read again, and then the phrase 'taurus beings, ghouls and some species of shifters' attracted her attention.

That left only three options then, but Chloe quickly ruled out the shifters, since they didn't use gems. Taurus beings were soon discarded too, leaving only the ghoul.

The bluenette set out to search for 'ghoul' in the book, and although it took longer than she would have liked, she found the entry almost on the last pages and began to read.

** _Ghoul_ **

** _One of the man-eating, probably the most reputed of all (next to the wendigo)._ **

** _In their true form, their skin is gray, rarely dull green, and their veins and arteries are visible, but they seem black brushstrokes on the skin. When they are hungry or begin to have it, those brushstrokes gradually protrude from the skin. Their eyes are always red._ **

** _On very few occasions, the true form of a ghoul turns out to be more terrifying than the previous one: where the eyes should be, now are empty eye sockets, and where the mouth should be now there is a bunch of cheek to cheek fangs. The head in general takes the form of a skull (sometimes more animal than human) and the rest of the body loses muscle, leaving the skin attached to the bones, but the black veins and arteries cover so much skin that it looks more like a body made of black tentacles. Certainly something that nobody would want to meet on the street._ **

** _Their cannibal nature has sometimes led them to eat their own families. Unlike other carnivorous creatures, ghoul are only able to eat human flesh, as it is the only thing that their bodies can digest. Although they consume at will any type of human corpse they find, most are not really satisfied until they kill someone themselves. To this must be added the fact that a ghoul can’t spend more than a week without eating, therefore it is expected that he will kill at least one human per week._ **

** _Although they lack augmented senses, and far from their emaciated and fragile appearance, the ghoul are possessors of a great superhuman force that they use in their favor to kill humans with ease, their strength is feared even among creatures. They are natural predators, so they are endowed with fangs and claws strong enough to hunt their prey (humans), but there have also been cases in which a ghoul or a small group of them have attacked and killed one or more creatures, revealing their true aggressive and murderous nature._ **

** _Apart from their claws and fangs, it is known that women of this species have developed the ability to transform into different types of animals, although nobody knows how and nobody dares to find out._ **

** _It is estimated that they can live around 1000 years or more, although this data is still under discussion._ **

** _Ghoul are the only creatures that need a black obsidian stone to appear to be human, so if someone wears a necklace, ring or bracelet with this gem, it is more than likely to be a ghoul, and it is best to get away of them, after all they are creatures mostly cannibals and lacking humanity._ **

It was not difficult to notice that this description had been made with the obvious intention of being insulting, but despite that, it was more than likely that there was some truth within such subjectivity.

The description was accompanied, as expected, by a drawing. In it you could see the head of a person, but their skin was painted pale gray and there were what appeared to be black veins protruding from the skin, their eyes were blood red. The drawing below was the vivid image of the description of an animal skull by head and black tentacles by body.

Chloe didn't know very well what to think, except that she couldn't believe all that unless she saw it for herself.

Her cell phone vibrated with the arrival of a message, startling her.

**Max: So, this time I'll be the one to ask. What am I?**

The bluenette watched the message for a few minutes, not knowing very well what to do. The next thing he wrote surprised even her.

**Chloe: won't tell you by message, i want to see each other face to face**

**Chloe: in the junkyard, at 1am?**

**Chloe: please?**

Max's response took a painful ten minutes to arrive.

**Max: Ok. I'll see you there.**

Chloe let out a sigh, relieved that Max accepted. Now she just had to think about what to tell the brunette when she see her.

Soon an idea came to her mind, and even if it seemed too far fetched even for her, perhaps she can give a new meaning to 'give a scale to a being'.

* * *

** _1:03am_ **

The truck's tires screeched when Chloe parked at the entrance to the junkyard. She quickly got out of the truck and jogged inside the American Rust. Chloe soon found Max, who was sitting on the bus with her legs hanging and… smoking a cigarette?

"I didn't know you smoked." It was the first thing that came out of her mouth without her permission.

Max turned her head to Chloe, took her cigarette from her mouth and crushed it against the roof of the bus, all that while she laughed and smoke escaped through her nose and mouth.

"And I knew you would be late, as always," she joked. “But don't worry, I only smoke when I feel very anxious. Besides, it's not like that is going to cause anything to my emaciated body.”

That self-hate comment made Chloe frown slightly, worried about her friend's condition.

_My friend_.

“So, now are you going to answer my question? What am I?” asked Max, that strange smile on her face again.

"...You’re a ghoul."

“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!” Max exclaimed and clapped sarcastically. “Then tell me, Miss Price, what will you do now? Throw stones at me, call me trash or run away from me? Or maybe all three?”

Now Chloe's frown deepened.

"I will not do any of those things."

“Then you are an idiot. Haven't you learned anything from the book?”

Chloe noticed that there was a hint of fear in her voice, and her smile had gone from that strangeness to trembling, as if it would break at any moment.

“None of those things will be true for me unless you prove it to me, Max. It was more than obvious that everything was written as an insult, so nothing is true for me until I see it.” At that point, Max's smile had disappeared and her expression had turned melancholic, her eyes now seemed more empty than never.

Silence was the only answer Chloe got, but she remained motionless in place. She wouldn't move from there until she talked to Max properly.

Max's eyes never left Chloe's, and at some point in the silence, the brunette's left hand moved to her right wrist and ran her thumb through the gem. Her skin then turned gray, those characteristic veins and black arteries appeared and his eyes, before blue, were now red.

"It's a lie" It was the first thing Max said. “I can survive at least a month without eating before I start literally starving to death. My body rots, the blood that runs through my veins and what keeps me alive can only be given to me by human flesh and blood.” She jumped off the bus, landing right in front of Chloe, her eyes never left those of the bluenette. "And, believe it or not, my ancestors were forced to plunder graves and feed on those rotten corpses when the other carnivorous creatures scared them away from the villages and exiled them to the forests."

Chloe, without even realizing it, had left her human appearance behind and her scales were now showing.

“They were harassed so much that it was no surprise when several ghoul rebelled and killed a few just to get meat to eat, because I'm sure you know that animal meat doesn't work for us, we reject it. Fortunately, the flesh of other creatures seemed to work, but since it is not human, it still does not satisfy us.”

In the course of her speech, Max approached Chloe until she transferred her personal space. Although the bluenette was taller, the brunette was the one who most intimidated with her look of steel.

“And yes, my species has committed cannibalism, but neither is it that wendigos are so innocent. And it is not that we are lacking humanity, it’s that they simply force us to be beings without emotions if we want to survive meaningless hatred that-”

Max's prayer was interrupted when Chloe pulled her into a hug. The brunette was tempted to resist, but her arms fell to her sides when the weight of Chloe's words settled.

“I just wanted to hear your version of the story. It was enough to know that they are wrong about you, Max.”

The brunette raised her arms slowly and grabbed Chloe's shirt tightly as she rested her face on the bluenette's shoulder.

"I'm glad you didn't run away like everyone else," Max muttered, her voice muffled.

“I would never run away from you. Do you know how difficult it would be to find a girl who had the same level of sarcasm as you?” Chloe joked, earning a small laugh from the brunette.

None of the girls knew how long they were hugged, but in a moment Chloe took Max's shoulders and pulled her away a little so she could see her face. The brunette's cheeks were stained with what appeared to be blood coming from her eyes. The bluenette soon understood what that meant.

"You also cry blood, don't you?, but nobody knows," Chloe said tenderly as she gently passed a scaly hand over Max's cheeks, wiping her tears.

Max replied with a 'yes' drowned. Chloe wiped the rest of the brunette's tears and smiled at her.

"I will never leave your side, Max."

The brunette's eyes seemed to have filled with tears. "You promise?"

Chloe reached one of the pockets of her jeans and pulled something into her clenched fist. She extended it to Max before opening her hand and revealing what was inside.

A tear-shaped reddish blue scale greeted Max, who gasped in surprise and took the scale almost reverently.

"I-I know what it may seem, but let me explain, now it's my turn." Chloe giggled as she scratched the back of her neck. “We have known each other for only a few weeks, but I can say with certainty that I have had great luck in meeting you, you are a great friend and, as I said, I will never leave you. I just want you to know how serious I am about it, and if you ever want this to be something else, you just have to-”

It was Max's turn to interrupt Chloe with a hug that almost threw both girls to the ground.

"I don't deserve you" was what Max said, new tears falling down her cheeks.

Chloe then hugged Max, no words were needed to understand what the bluenette's gesture meant. Both girls were happy, and that was what mattered.

At some point, Max clenched her fist around the scale and brought it close to her heart. A cheerful smile crossed her face for the first time in years.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've come here, thanks for reading, and if you come back from any of my previous stories, thanks for staying here.
> 
> If I didn't have a specific time to publish before, now I don't have it either (ups), but I will leave one of my fics (See Me as I Am) in hiatus for a while, while I try to accommodate my life and the writer block passes me. 
> 
> The reason is simple: I prefer to finish a story that I already have planned (for the most part) than to keep updating that and another one in which most of the time they are things that occur to me in the act. I'm not doing that, and I prefer to leave that fic in hiatus before starting to publish because yes.
> 
> About the series 'Be Human', I already have three other chapters planned (four maybe, it depends on whether I consider it necessary or not), and I will update this series when I feel inspired and want to do it. I literally wrote this episode in about 8 hours today, and it's the first thing I write in almost a year. Little by little I will return to the routine.
> 
> Don't believe that I have forgotten all this :)


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